Courses

Courses for 2018

So you really want to be a Beekeeper?

Beekeepers’ Beginners Course

South Clwyd BKA has run a successful beginners course for many years. The venue Patchwork Traditional Food Company, Llys Parcwr, Ruthin Denbighshire LL15 1NJ

Jenny Whitham

The course is suitable for those who want to start beekeeping, and those who have recently started.

The course will start on Sat 17th March with a full weekend 21st and 22nd April , finishing on Saturday 19th May (10am-4pm)

The course includes time in the apiary, and all students will have hands on practical experience with the bees. Beekeeping clothing is provided for those who don’t have their own. Jenny Whitham is the lead tutor. The course fee is £80.00. (£40.00 under 18’s) which entitles you to SCBKA associate membership

At the end of the course you will have covered all the essential elements of beekeeping to allow you the confidently start beekeeping as well as being allocated a mentor.

WBKA Basic Assessment

If you have kept bees for at least one full season have you thought about taking the WBKA Basic Assessment?

This oral and practical assessment demonstrates you have achieved a good level of understanding of how to manage your bees.

It is possible to take the assessment in your own apiary but the preference is for candidates to use association apiaries or travel to assessors and use their facilities. The assessment will take an hour or so during which you will be asked to open a hive and inspect the colony and answer some questions.

You probably do need to do a bit of reading in preparation but the assessment is quite informal, and actually quite enjoyable!

SCBKA would really like to encourage more beekeepers to take the assessment and, if a group come forward, we might be able to set up a tutorial to look through the syllabus and give some hints and tips on preparation.

Intermediate (Improvers’) Beekeepers Course 2018

The course tutor, Steve Rose is a member of South Clwyd Beekeepers and a trustee of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association. He keeps around 40 colonies in South West Denbighshire and breeds and supplies near native nuclei and queens. He has a passionate interest in local bees and their interaction with and adaptation to our own particular conditions. He runs the course as a series of informal seminars and aims to help course participants develop the confidence and skills to read colonies and manage them in a way that is both empathetic and enjoyable.

This year the improvers’ course will be pitched to follow our beginners’ course. It is aimed at consolidating and revising the material covered in the beginners’ course and to introduce new topics which should interest those who have kept bees for a year or more. It should suit people who have already attended the beginners or anyone who is returning to beekeeping after a gap of several years. It should also help those who wish to prepare for the WBKA basic examination which is something the association is keen to encourage.

The course will be held over 3 Saturdays, 10th, 24th February and 3rd March from 9:15am to 4:30pm at Pentredwr Community Centre Nr. Llangollen. Directions will be provided. These days will cover theory only as the bees will not be very active. They will be followed by an optional practical day during the early part of the active season. The date for the practical is still to be arranged and will depend on weather, numbers and beekeeping commitments. The practical will cover disease inspection, artificial swarming, uniting and queen marking. Hopefully everyone will manage to mark at least one drone by the method of their choice and various techniques of marking and clipping of queens will be demonstrated. No student will be pressurised to carry out clipping during the practical day.

The content of the theoretical part will be based loosely on the BBKA/WBKA “Red course in a case”.

The cost of the course is £75 for the theory and an extra £10 for the practical. The practical will probably be held at one or two of Steve’s apiaries near Corwen. Please bring a packed lunch for each day. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Anyone who is interested in attending this course should contact Steve Rose, on 01490 460554 or email Lorraine Hodgkinson education@scbeekeepers.co.uk

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Congratulations to the beginners' class of 2018 who, with the help of their tutor Jenny, turned into novice beekeepers at SCBKA apiary yesterday. The bees that they help to nurture will be very fortunate. We wish beekeepers and bees well. ... See MoreSee Less